The president of the United States decided he wanted his favourite sport to take place at the most famous house in the world so that is now happening.
There is no hiding the fact that UFC president Dana White is one of Trump’s most supportive people and he has pulled off one of the biggest sporting events in history on the White House lawn.
It’s not only an epic location but a truly great card, and although it will take place on a Monday for us Aussies, it simply can not be missed.
I’ve taken a look at the entire main card below and offer my best betting plays.
17 professional fights for 17 wins and 15 finishes.
UFC titles in two separate weight classes and knock outs wins over Alex Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira.
Illia Topuria has built an impressive fighting CV and there is no doubting he is the biggest star in the sport which is only going to shine brighter after such an event like this.
Undisputed UFC gold has always been the ultimate goal for Justin Gaethje and whilst he has won the interim lightweight title twice, he has also failed twice to achieve that ultimate success.
When he started his MMA journey he had never trained boxing which is a difficult piece of information to absurd when you consider his fighting style.
An accomplished wrestler when he was younger, he has been in some of the most brutal scraps we have seen in UFC history.
While he has taken a more thought out approach in recent years, he absolutely understands his best pathway to victory is to engage his opponent with viscous leg kicks and pressure.
Unfortunately he faces the new breed of mixed martial arts and Illia Topuria not only has brutal power himself, a very good ground game, but he has an extremely good fighting IQ.
And it’s that IQ that has me believing that the Spaniard will take his time to work Gaethje out in the opening rounds.
Alex Pereira entered the UFC partly because Israel Adesanya was so dominant at Middleweight and the organisation was looking for a fight they could sell.
He’d knocked Izzy out in Glory during his kickboxing days so he earned a contract based purely off that.
Dana White and his fellow matchmakers couldn’t have envisioned the next few years going any better.
Not only did we get two epic fights between the old rivals but Alex Pereira quickly became one of the biggest stars in the sport.
On Monday, on the White House lawn, he will attempt to create UFC history by becoming the first fighter to win UFC titles in three separate divisions.
The man standing in his way is Ciryl Gane, who in just three years of making his MMA debut, was UFC interim heavyweight champion.
With just two losses on his record, one to Jon Jones and the other to Francis Ngannou, he is not only one of the bigger specimens in the division, he is agile as well.
It’s that movement that gives him a big advantage in this fight because the ones that stand in front of Pereira are the ones that end up waking up on the canvas not knowing what happened after a brutal left hook lands.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Gane shoots in the early rounds.
Once the biggest star in the sport, Sean O’Malley had four consecutive title fights and went 2-2.
Both losses came against Merab Dvalishvili and he was submitted in their most recent encounter.
Sugar bounced back against Song Yadong earlier this year however it was the third time in four fights that the judges were needed to decide the winner which is rare considering 12 of 19 of his wins have been by knockout.
Aiemann Zahabi lost two of his first three UFC fights but has since gone unbeaten in seven straight fights.
This includes wins over Jose Aldo, Chito Vera and Pedro Munhoz but includes just two by knockout.
At 38 years of age, he is closing in on the top of the division and a win would likely give him a title shot.
I’d like to see O’Malley back to his brutal best where he works out his opponent early and capitalises with his combination punches.
And I’ve got a feeling this sort of occasion and setting is exactly what he thrives in.
I’m not sure there is a more exciting fighter in the UFC at the moment than Josh Hokit.
Or a weirder one.
Undefeated in nine professional MMA fights, he won a UFC contract through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2025 and has won all three fights since.
He didn’t beat anyone of note in those first two wins but it was his most recent win in April against Curtis Blaydes that has people believing he is a genuine threat in the division.
In a fight of the year contender it broke the record for most combined significant strikes in UFC heavyweight history with 351 of which he landed 177.
But he faces a man that has more knockouts than anyone in the history of the UFC.
Derrick Lewis extended that record with a first round KO against Tallison Teixeira in Nashville last year but was beaten by Waldo Cortes Acosta in January.
We know his style and I can’t imagine him reinventing anything at 41 years of age and he comes into this fight as a large underdog.
I like those odds
Putting together an 8-1 record in the Brazilian regional scene which included eight KOs, Mauricio Ruffy won his first three fights in the UFC.
This included a brutal spinning heel kick KO in the first round against Bobby Green.
He suffered his first loss against BSD but bounced back with a second round TKO win over Rafael Fiziev in February.
Michael Chandler spent a lot of time on the sidelines waiting for his fight against Conor McGregor that never eventuated.
This had to have taken a toll on a fighter that prides himself on being active and a supreme athlete.
At 40 years of age and having won just once in his last six fights, it’s tough to see him winning although I do think he is a knockout chan